The fourth category is the high-end category. If you missed our earlier posts, click below to access the previous posts in this project management software series:
Project Management Software Categories: Introduction
Project Management Software Category #1: Simple / Stand Alone Tools
Project Management Software Category #2: Collaborative Tools
Project Management Software Category #3: Mid-Size Tools
This category has been around for a longer period of time than the mid-size tools. In fact, prior to the emergence of the mid-size tools, an organization that needed a comprehensive system was pretty much limited to tools in this category.
Characteristics of tools in this category are that they are very powerful, highly customizable, loaded with lots of features, require lengthy implementation times, and tend to be much more complicated.
These tools are used to manage the project management functions of some very large organizations so they have to be powerful with lots of features to support the needs of organizations with thousands of users with complex requirements. Customization is important because the needs of large organizations vary, although customizations often times mean literally customizing code for an individual company.
These points make it inherent that the implementation of these tools tend to me much more time consuming and resource intensive than some of the other categories we have looked into, and these tools by nature are complex.
The benefits of this project management software category are fairly obvious: power, power, and more power. Organizations that need that level of power will want to look in this category. These tools are highly scalable and can support those large organizations. In addition, these tools tend to have more brand recognition because this category has been around longer.
The drawbacks are related to the complexity inherent in these tools. These are not the type of tools that you turn on and start using. There is a high learning curve and long implementation cycle. That means a much higher cost as well. Often times, outside integrators and consultants are needed to supplement in house expertise to implement these tools properly.
When should you consider tools in this category? As I have said before, there is no one best category, it depends on your organization and its needs. If you have a large organization, let's say more than 1,000 projects or 700 users, you should look at this category. Likewise, if you have some complicated requirements that may be somewhat outside of the norm, you also will want to look at this category.
Next we'll look at the final project management software category...